<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Tutorials > Generic and Topographic Simulation Tutorials > Exporting Topographic Data

Frequently topographic data (surfaces) will need to be exported from 3d-DigPlus. There are two situations where this commonly occurs:

•Exporting data for use in other mine planning or terrain modelling systems.

•Transferring Surfaces between 3d-DigPlus files.

Exporting data for use in other mine planning or terrain modelling systems.

When exporting data for use in other systems (1) there are two modes of exporting the topographic data:

1.Exporting the Grid or a filtered version of the Grid.

2.Producing a Contoured rendition of the surface and exporting the contours.

Method 1 tends to produce very large data sets when the filtering parameters are set up so as to provide high resolution, with lower resolution parameters the data sets are smaller but important detail can be lost.

Method 2 (contours) often provides the best means of providing high resolution with modest file size.

A third hybrid method involves using primarily Method 2 (contours) but augmenting this with thinned grid data.

 

Warning Loss of Detail in Data Export

The only export method which involves no loss of resolution is exporting the full grid.  However as 3d-DigPlus works on a very fine mesh grid this can result in very large exported data sets which can be problematic when importing into other systems. The methods detailed in the following tutorials will generally allow data to be exported in a manner which has adequate resolution and reasonable file size. However care needs to be taken to ensure the adequacy of resolution of any exported data.

 

 

Transferring Surfaces between 3d-DigPlus files.

When transferring surface data between 3d-DigPlus files, surfaces can be saved in a binary (bit) file format. These bit files are a highly efficient file type and they save the full Grid with full resolution and typically only of modest size.

 

Data Export Tutorials.

The following video clips and associated files demonstrate the procedures for exporting Surface Data from 3d-DigPlus.

 

Data Export Tutorial 1 - Exporting Surface Grid Data as a DXF File.

This tutorial exercise demonstrates how to export a grid to a DXF file.

Load the file Export_Topo.3dd

 

 

Data Export Tutorial 2 - Exporting Surface Data as Contours & Thin Grid.

This tutorial exercise demonstrates how to export a surface as contours to a DXF file. Frequently the contour file is all that is required, however in some situations it needs to be augmented with grid data. This exercise illustrates these situations.

Load the file Export_Topo_Contour.3dd

 

 

Data Export Tutorial 3- saving Surfaces as Grids for transfer between 3d-DigPlus Files.

This tutorial exercise demonstrates how to save surfaces as bit files for transfer between 3d-DigPlus files.